


Choose A Side

by cj27



Category: In the Flesh (TV)
Genre: M/M, Rabid!Kieren Walker
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-11
Updated: 2014-06-11
Packaged: 2018-02-04 07:13:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,597
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1770286
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cj27/pseuds/cj27
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For Simon Monroe the clock is ticking. He has to choose - his faith or love. The Undead Prophet, the greater good or Kieren Walker? His mission or his own death?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Choose A Side

Simon had never seen Kieren rabid before. He'd never seen someone  _fight_ being rabid before, not like this. He'd seen some people try and resist it, but they'd all given in after a minute or so. But Kieren, Kieren was fighting it more than Simon had even known was possible.

The fair haired boy had ran as fast as he could to the graveyard and tried to tie himself down. The fact that he'd fought it off long enough to even have a decent thought in his brain amazed Simon, truly amazed him. There had been no other thought in the boy's mind other than to find somewhere he could stay until the effects wore off. Of course, the march was today and Simon had told his followers to prepare, so the graveyard hadn't been as empty as Kieren had probably hoped. 

But still, as Simon watched, he knew that Kieren wasn't going to hurt anyone. From experience, Simon knew that rabids didn't hold back, they couldn't. Once they felt that need for flesh again, they got hold of anything with a pulse and tore its throat out. Kieren would have killed Steve by now if he wanted to. Instead he was looking at his Father, his head cocked to the side slightly, a glimmer of the Kieren Simon knew sat in the creamy-white of his eyes. 

Simon slowly twisted the knife in his hands. If he was going to do it, he had to do it now. There would be no other chance, it was today or never. The black handle on the bone saw felt hard, foreign in the soft palm of his hand. Simon had never killed anyone before, not in his conscious state anyway. Kieren was real, he was alive and he was beautiful. He was special and important and Simon was suppose to just... To just end all that? For what? A second rising? 

Yes, he thought. The second rising, _things will change after the second rising._ That's what The Undead Prophet said. No more discrimination, no more Rotters Are Lower Class. The undead will be treated as they deserve to be treated: as the redeemed, as angels on Earth. One life for the greater good of thousands of others? It seemed fair. 

The cold December air seemed to freeze around Simon, tense and silent. Not even a bird could be heard in the country hills of Roarton. It was almost as if nature had stopped around him, waiting for him to sacrifice the first risen. But what if Simon had got it wrong? What if Kieren wasn't the first risen, and the boy had just been mistaken when he'd said it was only him when he rose? What if someone in a grave behind him had in fact risen first, and Kieren just hadn't seen them? Then what would happen? Simon would have killed one of the only people who truly meant something to him for some myth that may or may not be true. 

But what if Kieren was right, and Simon missed the only chance they had at starting the second rising? Simon would be deemed a traitor, that was for sure. The undead would be seen as scum, as dirt forever more and it would all be his fault. He would have chosen a boy over The Undead Prophet, over his mission. Everything would have been for nothing. 

There were only minutes to spare before 12 o'clock. Maybe, Simon almost hoped, maybe Kieren wouldn't be able to fight it anymore and Jem would have to shoot. A single bullet straight to the head. It would be quicker than Simon having to dig the knife into his neck, twisting until he cut the spinal chord in half, watching as the new-found life left Kieren's eyes, his lifeless body falling to floor at Simon's feet as black goo trailed from the back of his neck onto the damp, dew dropped grass of the cemetery... It would only be a few seconds, but it would feel like hours, days to Simon. 

The greater good of others, or Kieren Walker?

Until now, Simon hadn't really been listening to the words Steve Walker had been saying to his son. He'd been too engrossed in his own thoughts to concentrate on much else. However now, as Kieren slowly gripped hold of Steve's jacket, Simon found he could concentrate on nothing but Steve. The words he spoke were words of love, acceptance, belief in his son. Simon couldn't remember the last time someone said those things to him. God, other than The Undead Prophet, he didn't think anyone had ever said those things to him, not since he was a kid anyway. 

All Simon's life he'd been trying to fill the void of emptiness inside him, but as he watched Kieren cling onto Steve, his whole body shaking as his Father's words took effect on him, Simon realised exactly what it was he needed - he needed love. He needed to be accepted, he needed to be believed in. Before, the drugs had certainly accepted and loved him, and he felt the same way towards them. But they'd ruined the life he'd had, and eventually they had taken it from him. His parents loved and accepted him, until the drugs. Then they'd believed in him when he said he'd get better, except he hadn't. He'd just gotten worse and lost them both. And then came The Undead Prophet, the ULA, they had accepted him. They'd loved him and believed in him, so much so that it was he who was chosen to complete the most important mission. He'd been content with that; it had filled the void that drugs and depression once had.

But if he was so content, then why was he standing here now having to choose between his faith and love?

_The greater good of others, or Kieren Walker?_

The clock was ticking, 12 o'clock was drawing closer and closer as Simon stood and watched. Kieren was still fighting, still gripping hold of his humanity. He ducked his head, a low moan escaping his lips as he tried to fend off the predator inside him. Simon couldn't take his eyes off him, he really couldn't. There was no doubt in his mind that Kieren was incredible, so so incredible. If he was strong enough to fight off blue oblivion, what else was he capable of? When Simon had described him as beautiful, he hadn't been lying. Inside and out, Kieren Walker was beautiful. He was beautiful and he wanted to spend time with Simon, he wanted to be near him and... And love him and believe in him and accept him...

Simon heard the snap of twigs behind him before he felt the tight pressure around his neck. He knew who it was before he heard the voice. 

"Got ya." Gary Kendal spoke, his voice heavy and out of breath. Simon almost sighed, if there was one thing he was sick of, it was Gary Kendal and his bullshit. A small knife was pressed up against Simon's neck, and he was about to say something snarky about how a knife to the throat was hardly going to do any harm to someone with no blood when he saw her out of the corner of his eye. One of the villagers, Pearl he thought her name was, was slowly raising a gun from her bag. Her chubby, gloved fingers gripped it tightly as she took a few steps forward so she was stood almost next to Jem. She looked terrified. She looked determined. 

_The greater good of others or Kieren Walker?_

Simon didn't even have to think. He threw his head back so it smacked straight into the face of Gary and the grip around his neck was quickly released. He sharply twisted the knife out of the other man's hand and moved away, throwing the blade somewhere into the bushes as he jumped across the low wall he'd been stood behind.

_His faith or love?_

Never, Simon thought, never had he run this fast in all his life. It was as if time really had stopped. He was hardly aware of the ground beneath his feet, the cries of the villagers and his followers as he ran across the graveyard towards Kieren, the bone knife still grasped tightly in his grip.

_Others or Kieren?_

The noise of Pearl's gun exploding filled his ears, it was so loud, possibly the loudest thing he'd ever heard. What he had to do, which path he had to take was obvious. He'd died before, he knew what it was like. It was like nothing. It was dark and calm and it isn't until you're out of it that you realise you were even in it. There's no pain, no suffering, no choices. At least if he were to die this time it would have meaning. Not like before when he was just some wasted junky who didn't know the limit. No, this time he'd have died for a reason, a cause. 

_~~His faith or~~ love._

As his body collided with Kieren he knew he'd made the right decision. He squeezed his eyes shut tight and held a useless breath in his lungs. Where the bullet hit he didn't know. If he never opened his eyes again, never drew another meaningless breath into his lungs again then at least he died for the right reasons. He died for love. He'd have died for the most beautifully strong, incredible human. 

 _ ~~Others or~~  _ _Kieren._  

He'd have died for Kieren Walker.

 


End file.
